The Camas High School (CHS) football season is over, and one of the shining stars from the team is senior and team manager Addison Clark.
Clark has had a love for football since she was in middle school, and she knew she wanted to be more connected with the sport in whatever way she could.
“I mean, I watched [football] on the sidelines freshman year and then sophomore year, I joined, and it was amazing,” Clark said. “It was so much fun, so I think the main reason why I did it is that I just wanted to get behind the scenes.”
Her decision to join the team proved to be one of the best decisions she made throughout her high school career. It taught her valuable lessons, such as the importance of showing up.
“I have learned that you need to show up. It counts when you show up,” Clark said. “Through going to practices every day in the rain, the dark, cold, everything like that, and just knowing that I am a part of the team and knowing that I need to show up and support the team [has been valuable to learn].”
Her commitment to showing up for the team and her contributions to it have not gone unnoticed by the players and coaches.
“She organizes all the uniforms, she flies the drone in practice, she helps out with the food, stuff, equipment stuff, and gets the equipment out, so it is unbelievable what she has meant to football,” Head Football Coach and Athletic Coordinator Adam Mathieson said. “I think that she is such a stabilizing force. Like you see her at practice and she goes around, she’s got water bottles or she’s flying drones, but just seeing her there every day and her [unique] ability [is amazing since] there’s very few people in high school that you can work with and don’t have to give guidance to.”
Her unalterable desire to show up for the team has given her various opportunities to expand her management skills into her college career.
“I have several friends who coach college football, and I have conversed with all of them about plugging her into a college program to be a manager,” Mathieson said. “We met with the defense coordinator at Brigham Young University (BYU) last year about it because, I mean, she does everything before it needs to be done.”
She not only does what needs to be done, but she also goes out of her way to make life easier for the coaches and for the players.
“She is great at seeing things that need to be done before they need to be done, and being like, ‘I’ll just own that and I am just going to take care of this,’” Mathieson said. “Coach Hathaway’s kids will be at practice, and she will be like I am going to go hang out with Hathaway’s kids and make sure that they’re okay and stuff.”
Besides learning how to be helpful and proactive in her management career, Clark has also found value in connecting with the players.
“It has been cool to watch people grow up and things like that,” Clark said. “[During] those cold, dark, wet practices, you’re all miserable together, but then you get to talking and you get to know more about people. I think it has been really great to connect with them and go through the highs and lows together.
Clark connects with the players not only through spending time in rainy weather conditions, but also by always having a welcoming smile on her face. Her smile, positivity, and willingness to help will be qualities remembered about her in years to come.
“I don’t think I have ever seen her in a bad mood or not smiling, like every single day, and it is a sucky job to bring water to a bunch of annoying, sweaty boys,” CHS junior and football player Thor Brody said. “So, it definitely takes a lot for her to show up every day, but she always does it with a smile on her face.”
